which was in the land after Cromwell was made Protector gave the people time to recover. Scotland was better governed than it had ever been before. Only poor Ireland was kept quiet by such cruel means as made everything worse than before.

In foreign countries the name of England was feared more in Cromwell's time than it had ever been since the days of Henry V. And I must say of him that he used his power well.

He died when he had been Protector only six years.

There were a number of very great men in the times of the civil wars. But I will only tell you of one, whom I have not named before. He was secretary to the parliament, and to Cromwell. But what we best know him by, and love him for now, is his poetry. His name was John Milton; and every Englishman must be proud that he was born in the same land, and speaks the same tongue with JOHN MILTON.

CHAPTER LI.

CHARLES II.-1660 to 1685.

How Richard Cromwell was Protector for a short time; how the people chose to have a king again; how General Monk brought home Charles the Second; how there was again a war with the Dutch; how the great plague was stopped by the great fire; how the King chose evil counsellors; how the Scotch and Irish were treated with great cruelty; how the King caused Lord Russell and many more to be put to death.

AFTER Cromwell's death his friends wished his son, Richard Cromwell, to be Protector of England. But Richard, who was a shy, quiet man, did not like it, and after a very short trial went home to his house in the country, and left the people to do as they pleased about a Protector.

But the people were tired of being governed by the army, even under such a wise and clever man as Cromwell, and they chose to have a king and real parliament again.

Most men were glad to have bishops again, and to be allowed to have their own prayer-books and their own music in church, instead of being forced to listen for hours together to sermons from the Puritans, who called all pleasant things sin, and grudged even little children their play-hours.

But the really wise people of all kinds, the English Protestants, the Puritans, and the Roman Catholics, had another reason for being glad the king was come home. I will try to explain this reason. You have read that whenever there was any dispute about who should be king, there was always a war of some kind,

and generally the worst of all, a civil war. Now, if the people had to choose who should be their new king every time an old one dies, so many men would wish to be kings, that there would be disputes, and then perhaps war; and while the war was going on there would be nobody to see that the laws were obeyed, and all the mischief would happen that comes in civil wars.

Now in England, it is settled that when a king dies his son shall be king next; or if he has no son, that his nearest relation shall be king or queen. You remember that after Edward VI., his sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, were queens, and then their cousin, James Stuart, was king. This rule prevents all disputes, and keeps the kingdom quiet.

After Oliver Cromwell died, the wisest people were afraid there would be war before another protector could be chosen, so they agreed to have Charles, the son of Charles I., for their king, and to get him to promise not to break the laws, or to oppress the people; and they thought they would watch him, to prevent his doing wrong to the country, and they hoped he might have a son to be king quietly after him.

General Monk, who had the care of all Scotland in Cromwell's time, was the person who contrived all the plans for bringing Charles II. to England. It was done very quietly. An English fleet went to Scheveling, in Holland, where Charles got on board and landed at Dover: in a very short time he arrived in London, along with General Monk, on his birthday, the 29th of May, and England has never been without a king or queen since.

Charles was a merry, cheerful man, and very goodnatured. He was fond of balls, and plays, and

masques, and nobody could have thought that England was the same place, who had only seen it in Cromwell's time. Then, people wore plain black

or brown clothes, stiff starched cravats or small collars, their hair combed straight down, and they all looked as grave as if they were walking to a funeral.

But when Charles came, the ladies and gentlemen put on gay-coloured silk and satin coats; they wore ribbons and feathers, and long curly wigs, and danced and sung as if they were at a wedding.

However, while Charles and the young men were so gay, there were a few old wise lawyers, and clergymen, and admirals, and generals, who managed the laws and other business very well, although there were a good many people who were sadly vexed to see a king again in England.

The king soon married Princess Catherine of Portugal, and her father gave her the island of Bombay, in the East Indies, as a wedding gift. It was almost the first place the English had in India, and now we have gained all that large country, which is larger than England, and France, and Portugal, all put together.

While Charles II. was king, there was a war with Holland, and another short one with France. Our battles with Holland were chiefly fought at sea: one of our best admirals was James, Duke of York, the king's brother, who beat the Dutch admirals Opdam, and the son of the famous Van Tromp. In another great battle, which lasted four days, General Monk, whom the king had made Duke of Albemarle, beat the great Admiral de Ruyter, and other English officers took several good towns which the Dutch had built in North America, especially New York.

Pleased with these victories, the king grew careless, and forgot to have the Dutch fleets properly watched, so one of them sailed into the river Medway, and burnt a number of English ships at Chatham, and did more mischief by landing at different places, and burning ships and houses, than had ever been done in the same way since the days of the old Danes.